Winners of 24 Stanley Cups, the Montreal Canadiens didn't manage a single goal against the Sharks this season.

Tommy Wingels scored twice and Antti Niemi stopped 27 shots as San Jose won 4-0 at SAP Center on Saturday night. Two of Niemi's three shutouts this season have come against the Canadiens. Niemi stopped 22 shots during San Jose's 2-0 win in Montreal on Oct. 26.

"I felt great in practice and the last two games," said Niemi, who has 26 career shutouts. "I saw the puck real well. They didn't get too many screens."

Logan Couture added a goal and two assists as San Jose moved to within four points of Pacific Division-leading Anaheim for the first time since trailing the Ducks by three and the Los Angeles Kings by two points on Dec. 14.

Couture scored his 18th goal of the season 43 seconds into the third period on a nice feed from Matt Nieto to end all suspense.

"As the game went on, we got better and better, dictated more of the play," captain Joe Thornton said. "It's nice to get everybody scoring."

The Sharks scored twice in the second period as the Canadiens basically became spectators, getting outshot 19-8 in the period.

Defenseman Matt Irwin's shot from the left point was redirected by Wingels past Montreal goalie Peter Budaj, who was lifted for backup Dustin Tokarski after allowing two goals on 11 shots.

The Sharks took a 1-0 lead with a shorthanded goal in the first period. While killing a James Sheppard minor, Couture sent a clear from just inside the San Jose blue line on goal. Budaj went into the butterfly to stop the puck, but didn't realize it was still loose in the crease when he stood up. Crashing the net, Wingels pushed the puck in at 2:26.

"I think he expected us both to change," said Wingels, who had a team-high eight shots. "It was a fortunate bounce for us, we'll take it. It gave us some momentum."

While the power play struggled through an 0-for-6 night - and is now mired in a 2-for-48 drought - the penalty kill was perfect, limiting Montreal to five shots over 8:08 of power play time during five man-advantage chances.

"The PK was great again just like it was great against Pittsburgh" in a 5-3 win on Thursday, Niemi said.

Briefly: Right wing Martin Havlat, right wing Mike Brown and defenseman Matt Tennyson were healthy scratches for a second straight game ... Ex-Shark Murray acknowledged the crowd following a loud ovation midway through the opening period after he was shown on the video board.